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GERRY MODDEJONGE, QMI Agency

Aug 6, 2012

, Last Updated: 8:33 PM ET

EDMONTON - Slow and steady is winning the race for Fred Stamps.

While the Edmonton Eskimos receiver has had a crawled into the season, it hasn’t stopped him from surpassing a career milestone and coming that much closer to officially becoming one of his team’s all-time best.

The Eskimos all-star slotback had four catches for 91 yards in a loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers his last time out, which sent the sixth-year CFLer over the 5,000-yard receiving mark on his career.

“Man, that’s nice right there,” Stamps said, after being told of the feat. “That’s one of those good things that I really didn’t know but it kind of gets you excited.”

As does the realization that the CFL’s top receiver in 2010 is just 51 yards away from cracking the top-10 Eskimos all-time receiving yards list.

“That’s a big deal to be in the top-10 in Edmonton because of all the great guys that came here,” Stamps said from field level at Commonwealth Stadium, which is surrounded by the Wall of Fame. “I can’t even start naming them, so many great Edmonton Eskimos all around here.”

How about Brian Kelly, Terry Vaughn and Tom Scott, for starters? They are the top three, in order, on the list of most career receiving yards. While Stamps has a way to go to reach Kelly’s 11,169, he is quickly closing in on Craig Ellis’s 5,069 for 10th place. Former teammates Jason Tucker and Ed Hervey, now the Eskimos head scout, round out the top five.

“I’m just humbled to even think about something like that,” said Stamps, who is also two catches away from moving into eighth on the team’s all-time receptions list. “I think back to 2007, my rookie year, I didn’t know nothing about the CFL game.

“Once I started getting a grasp of it, I’ve just been enjoying it. This is my sixth year here and it’s just been fun.”

IN AND OUT: DB Weldon Brown (groin) was back on the sidelines Monday after practising the day before ... LB Clint Kent (knee), OL Simeon Rottier (elbow) and DE Marcus Howard (hamstring) remained out, along with S Mike Miller and DL Lee Robinson.